The Kings of Joy Show: Why We Made They Will Be Kings (with Kaz Therese)
Feb 19, 2026A Conversation with Kaz Therese
We're in the final week of They Will Be Kings.
There are three performances left: Thursday 19 February, Friday 20 February, and Saturday 21 February at 7pm at Qtopia Sydney.
I recorded this conversation with Kaz Therese months ago, before the season opened. I'm sharing it now because the ideas we explored are exactly what the work is about: courage, gender, community, and what happens when we stop apologising for the space we take up.
Kaz is the CEO and Artistic Director of WEREWOLF Productions, an award-winning theatre maker, and the Drag King persona Brad Armpit. Together, and with the cast, we created They Will Be Kings - a collaboration that grew from community, secured state and federal government funding, and put Drag King theatre on the map in ways that hadn't been done before.
We talk about why Drag King culture matters, why visibility is political, and why there are still so few recognisable Drag King role models in the world. We talk about the courage it takes to step into masculinity as AFAB or non-binary artists. We talk about radical joy as a political act. We talk about what it means to make work that refuses to be polite.
If you've seen They Will Be Kings, this conversation will deepen what you experienced. If you haven't, it might help you understand why this work exists - and why it matters that it does.
What We Talk About in This Episode
Kaz's origin story begins with hesitation. They're Gen X. They thought they were too old to start something new. They were afraid - not of performance (Kaz has been making theatre for over 20 years) but of stepping into a personal gender journey in such a public way.
They came to Kings of Joy, watched from the sidelines, and wrestled with whether this was for them. It wasn't until a friend - Becks Blake, aka Jim Junkie - said, "What are you talking about? There are people from every generation here. Just come and do it," that Kaz took the leap.
Their first Kings of Joy workshop happened on their birthday in 2023. It was a gift to themselves. And it was massive.
By that point, Kaz had already come out as non-binary in 2022. Drag Kinging became the next step in a longer gender journey - one that involved rewriting decades of queer narratives that had been imposed on them by others. Growing up in the 90s and 2000s without language for their experience, being told they were a dyke, being told that wasn't necessarily a good thing - Kaz found freedom in Drag Kinging that they didn't know they needed.
Brad Armpit emerged from that freedom.
Brad is a hot dad. A recovering alcoholic. A divorced dad trying to become woke - but still entitled, still a bit of a dick about it. He's a satirical character who allows Kaz to explore what it's like to take up space without apologising, to embody entitlement as an artistic and political commentary.
The name Brad Armpit is a play on Brad Pitt - the blonde, blue-eyed Hollywood icon who has glided through scandal, abuse allegations, and a career built alongside Harvey Weinstein with barely a scratch on his reputation. Brad Armpit is Kaz's way of interrogating that entitlement, that power, and what happens when we make it visible and ridiculous.
Kaz and I worked together on Brad's first solo performance. Kaz wrote a monologue. I suggested three songs. We cut them together into an epic performance that included Brad re-enacting scenes from Brad Pitt's filmography, performing "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred, and delivering social commentary wrapped in humour and heart.
But the collaboration didn't stop there.
Kaz pitched an idea for a larger work: They Will Be Kings. The title came quickly - a declaration, a force, a promise. Kaz wanted to bring their 20 years of professional theatre-making experience into the Kings of Joy community and create something for the stage that honoured both the Drag King culture we'd built and the rigour of devised theatre.
We applied for funding. And we got it - from Create NSW and the Australia Council for the Arts. It was likely the first time a Drag King theatre work had been funded by state and federal government in Australia.
We sold out four nights at Qtopia in 2024. The show made the front page. And now, in 2025, we're back for a two-week season as part of Mardi Gras.
Kaz talks in this episode about what it was like working with four Drag Kings who aren't professional actors - myself, Chris McAllister (Chase Cocks), Becks Blake (Jim Junkie), and Angel Tan (Fine China). They talk about the tension between the slow, devised theatre-making process they're used to and the fast, high-energy Drag King culture we operate in. They talk about the "lesbian demons flying across the room" as we all confronted the absence of visible Drag King role models and tried to make something without an anchor.
We talk about why Drag King culture still doesn't have mainstream visibility. Why people ask, "Didn't the Kingpins do that 25 years ago?" as if one movement is enough. Why straight women should try Drag Kinging. Why claiming masculinity - wrapping your ovaries around patriarchy, as Kaz says - is revolutionary.
And we talk about courage. Kaz's message to aspiring Drag Kings is simple: if you're scared of something, you should do it. Life's too short. You can't judge something unless you've done it. You can do it once, in a group, and never perform solo. But doing it once crosses a threshold. You discover potential you didn't know was there.
Kaz imagines a future where Drag Kings are Emmy winners, Broadway stars, franchised across the world the way Drag Queens are. A future where naming your favourite famous Drag King isn't a hard question. A future where the matriarchal community moving into masculinity is celebrated with the same energy as the patriarchal community moving into femininity.
That's the world we're building. And They Will Be Kings is part of how we get there.
Listen to the Full Episode
Episode Timestamps
00:00 - Kaz's origin story and gender journey
02:47 - Overcoming fear and stepping into Kings of Joy
05:52 - Coming out as non-binary and creating Brad Armpit
08:54 - Satire, entitlement, and the politics of Brad Pitt
12:00 - Creating They Will Be Kings and securing government funding
14:49 - The power of Drag King performance and radical joy
17:55 - Theatre-making vs drag culture: working with non-actors
20:53 - The future of Drag Kings and community
23:53 - Encouragement for aspiring Drag Kings
27:04 - Imagining a thriving global Drag King culture
Full Transcript (lightly edited for readability)
Danica Lani:
Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought, "I'd make a damn fine Drag King"? Welcome to Kings of Joy, the Drag King podcast where gender isn't something to fear — it's something to play with. I'm Danica Lani, The King Coach, mentor to over 150 first-time Drag Kings, and I'm taking you backstage into the unruly, magical world of Drag King transformation. If you're craving confidence, community, and a crew that gets it — you just found your crown.
Kaz Therese:
Life's too short, you know. You can't judge something unless you've done it. So when you toss and turn over whether to do it — "I don't want to be a Drag King, I'm too this, I'm too that" — we don't know what you're talking about until you actually do it. Full stop.
Danica:
At Kings of Joy, we acknowledge and pay our respects to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work, and play. I pay my respects to elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.
In this episode, I had the privilege of speaking to Kaz, aka Brad Armpit. Kaz Therese lives on Gadigal land and grew up on Dharug land in Mount Druitt. They are queer, Hungarian-Australian, and the CEO and Artistic Director of WEREWOLF Productions — a new arts company dedicated to cultural transformation in extreme times. Kaz is an award-winning artist and cultural leader with a practice grounded in performance, activism, and community building.
Welcome, Kaz, aka Brad Armpit!
Kaz:
Thanks for having me here.
Danica:
Thanks for being here. I'm chuffed.
Kaz:
Chuffed to be here. Yeah, awesome.
Danica:
So let's dive right in. I want to start with your origin story. How did you and why did you get into Drag Kinging?
Kaz:
Well, I started to come to Kings of Joy, and then met you. And I think because I'm Gen X, I thought that maybe I was a bit too old to start a new thing, you know. But I also was on a gender journey and I was afraid, basically, in some ways.
But then I kept hanging out with Chris and you, and then I actually did a residency at The Ethics Centre. I said to Becks — Jim Junkie — I said, "I think I'm too old to do it, or it's just not right for me." And they were like, "No, man, you've got to just come and do it. What are you talking about? There's heaps of people from Gen X there, and Boomers, and everyone's there."
So anyway, I was lucky enough to go overseas after that, and then that kind of freed me up. And then you had one on my birthday. So I decided that was going to be my birthday present.
Danica:
That's so cool.
Kaz:
It was huge. It was a huge, huge thing. To just let everything go and just do it. But it was hard for me to take that step. But it was just incredible.
Danica:
Because you're a theatre maker — you're normally the one making the work. And then to step into a programme where it's community-based, using performance as a vehicle for exploring gender and self-expression — what was that like?
Kaz:
Yeah, it doesn't matter that I do theatre. I think it was just my gender. I just hadn't completed my whole gender identity journey. And there was a part of me that thought I was trans and everything. So it was much more personal than maybe my art, even though my art is very personal. So it makes sense. It's just another thing, isn't it? My art career is very much about memoir and autobiography. So I was obviously in the right place. All the things were falling into place. I just had to have the courage to reach out.
I came out as non-binary in 2022. Chris helped me with this whole thing. And then I did Drag Kinging at the end of 2023. So that was massive. It was just — I loved it. I loved everything that it is.
I suppose, coming up through the 90s and 2000s and not being femme — everyone was, you know — there was just no language for all the feelings and experiences and thoughts that I had around myself. And I was constantly being told who I was, that I was a dyke, that I was lesbian, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing. So that was 20 years.
So to kind of be stepping out of that in a really — and finding freedom in my gender and gender expression — is something that I… yeah, it's just an amazing, life-fulfilling journey that I didn't know I needed in this lifetime. And having this is awesome. And so I can just rewrite all the queer narratives that were lodged in my brain by other people. I've rewritten them for myself, and I love it.
Danica:
That's so powerful. How do you identify now? Non-binary is part of how you identify. Is there more to your identity? What would you say at this point in life you get to say?
Kaz:
Well, I identify as non-binary, definitely. And as queer. And I identify as Brad Armpit. And I don't need to perform all the time as Brad Armpit, but Brad Armpit certainly has an artistic practice. And so that's how I always express myself — through art. I've made a career out of it. And I've got a lot of dreams for Brad Armpit. And it's not necessarily always me performing, but it's Brad creating things through that lens of gender and Drag King.
Danica:
So good. Introduce us to Brad. We'd love to know who Brad is.
Kaz:
So my Drag King persona is Brad Armpit. He's hot dad. He's a recovering alcoholic and a divorced dad. And he's trying to change his ways and become woke. As a Gen X hot guy who's been entitled his whole life. And he probably won't change that too much, but he's trying to find the ways to do that. And he's just a dick about it. But yeah, so that's who Brad is.
I was trying to find my Drag King name. And we were all workshopping it. And I was going to be Ishtvaan — because I'm Hungarian, and Ishtvaan is Steve in Hungarian. So it was going to be, "I'm Ishtvaan, but you could just call me Steve." But I wanted something because of my Hungarian history, which is very complex, as every Hungarian's history is.
And so then I just — Brad Armpit. Because I don't mind Brad Pitt. I think he's quite a funny fella. And then I wanted to see what it's like to be entitled. Because I've never been. Just kind of thinking — just the freedom in that is just like, take up space, don't question yourself. So, and it has nothing to do with my biography, but of course it does. So I get to comment politically on that blonde, blue-eyed entitlement.
Danica:
I love that. And that's where satire comes in, doesn't it?
Kaz:
Yeah. Parody and satire. I think it's so good.
Danica:
And so after Kings of Joy, you did your debut group performance, and then we worked together on your first solo. And your solo was epic. Take us through some of the elements.
Kaz:
Well, the natural thing for me to do was to write a monologue. To write text. That's how I approach everything. Well, more so now, that's interesting. Because I just wrote some text to introduce him on stage, and then I sent that to you as my Drag King idea. And then you put three songs to it. You cut it with three songs. And that was wild. So it became this epic thing. Yeah, really good collaboration.
I remember Brown — my partner, my wife… I got married not yesterday, but the day before. So Brown, my wife — that's the first time I've officially said "Brown and my wife."
Danica:
Congratulations!
Kaz:
Thank you. So empowering. We went to the pub with the script and with what you sent me, and we just went, "Okay, this is nice." And I was like, "Do you think I should do Justin Bieber?" And she had just talked me through everything that you said — you can be Justin Bieber, you can be Bon Jovi, you can be Right Said Fred. But Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" became the anthem.
Danica:
I mean, there were some favourite moments for me — like the acting out of the Brad Armpit films. You're like, "Okay, I'm gonna do some scenes for you all."
Kaz:
Yeah. Because Brad Armpit's good, because then in my performances, I could always just use Brad Pitt's whole filmography, or anything. He's just such a major movie star celebrity. So Brad Armpit is known for re-performing some of his favourite scenes from some of his famous films.
Danica:
Hollywood history, mate.
Kaz:
Hollywood history, exactly.
Danica:
And I mean, the other thing I love about Brad Armpit is, as much as he's celebrity, he is also very much your everyday, relatable dad figure. So relatable and lovable.
Kaz:
Yeah, he's trying. I suppose as an artist, I'm trying to come to — this is just me, you know. I'm pretty down-to-earth, working-class stock from West Sydney. So just kind of moulding those two personalities together is pretty nice.
But Brad Pitt does try and be down-to-earth, even though he's just a very — I mean, he's an amazing character, because he abused his wife in front of people and his kids. He's a major alcoholic. And he has basically glided through that. He really has kind of managed to glide through things. So he's obviously a nice guy, but a lot of his relationships — and he made lots of films with Weinstein, and his ex-girlfriends have been abused by Weinstein. Like, he's a really problematic character who no one ever puts a target or gaze on as someone… I mean, he could be the next president. I had this other thing: Brad Pitt for Prez. Brad Pitt for Prez. Because that's kind of the way the world's going.
Danica:
Well, we can only hope.
Kaz:
Well, it'll swing back. We can only hope that Brad Pitt's gonna be president.
Danica:
And so the continuation of the journey has been amazing and magnificent to know you and to work with you. Tell us about what happened next in the evolution of this thing.
Kaz:
Yeah, so I did all that. I loved it. But my professional practice is in theatre-making, but also very much 50% in community arts and cultural development. And I just was so inspired by the community setup and how much it's helped me and the performances. And I just thought, I've got something to bring to this community.
So an idea came to me pretty quickly — a title: They Will Be Kings. And that came from, I don't know, There Will Be Blood, or that big Mads Mikkelsen movie about oil. They Will Be Kings — it's a declaration. It's also "build it and they will come," kind of. Just felt this big force.
And as a maker with 20 years' experience, I just thought, I've got a lot to offer. And Brad Armpit's got a lot to offer. So I pitched an idea for a show that took elements and artists from the community and elements of your practice and the community you set up to create a work for stage.
And we were really lucky enough to — I wrote it. I really loved what we wrote in the application. And we got funding from Create NSW and the Australia Council, the federal government.
Danica:
And I mean, that's massive, isn't it? Because it's probably the first time that a Drag King show has been funded by state and federal government.
Kaz:
Absolutely. Amazing. We put on four nights at Qtopia, which was crazy. And it's just become this big journey. We sold out and got front page. And the show is just a bloody big political joy. We don't kind of shy away from saying what needs to be said. And that's my work too — finding kind ways to talk about difficult subjects. And I think that aligns with what you do as well.
Danica:
So yeah, there was radical joy. There was — this is political. This is our stories. It had the Drag King solos in it as well, peppered through. But it also had the backstories of our journeys, and what we stand for.
Kaz:
Yeah. Elements. And the personal stories. And the lived experience is really important for people to understand. And I think politically, a lot of people who aren't queer or don't see a lot of queer works came — who are from my arts friends — and they just thought it was just everything that they need. Particularly AFAB women or heterosexual women, because I just think becoming a Drag King is like kicking feminism out of the way and just going for the full — just wrapping those ovaries around patriarchy. It's just, you know, not asking permission to be present.
It's just — actually, feminism is amazing, and we know exactly what it is. But when feminism moves into patriarchal space, that's really interesting. That's revolution. And I think it's the big, massive energy that the feminist or women's movement needs. And I think I love all my straight women friends to do it. Drag Kings. Just to do it. Just to see. Because it just lifts your power in a really positive way. Not, you know — it does. And it's about claiming masculinity.
Danica:
And I think you helped really succinctly identify that the Kings of Joy programme is really a space for exploring gender. It doesn't matter who you sleep with or how you identify, but come and lean into the masculine. See what you discover.
Kaz:
Yeah. Because with my identity, I live in a lot of different worlds. And I love that. I believe we should all live very diverse worlds — queerness, culturally diverse. I mean, I am queer and culturally diverse, and I'm from West Sydney and from Mount Druitt. So my intersectionality is pretty fierce, even though you might not notice when you look at me.
But yeah, so I always try and sit as deep as I can into those parts of my identity — all of them — and hold them all, because they are all me. And my practice is about being courageous in really finding out what we can offer through telling these stories.
Danica:
And so what was it like working with four Drag Kings who are not actors? I did acting at university a million years ago, and hadn't done it for 25 years. It was very confronting for me personally to step into the acting space. So you worked with myself, with my spouse Chris McAllister, aka Chase Cocks, Becks, aka Jim Junkie, and Angel. What was that like, working with your amazing process?
Kaz:
I think because I like to take time — but we didn't have that. And as you guys were all Drag Kings, drag is the complete opposite to what I do. It's fast and furious. You were like, "Look, we've got like four rehearsals over a period of two weeks. We'll be fine." And I was like, sometimes I take 18 months to make something.
But I had to find a balance between those — between the drag and performance theatre, what I do. So I was happy to just go with the kind of energy. And we were invited into Mardi Gras season at Qtopia, which I think Qtopia is a really special, important space. And so I felt like the combination of Kings of Joy and my company WEREWOLF and Qtopia was a really powerful combination of collaboration for this new kind of voice in queer culture — which Drag King is.
And working with you all — the lesbian demons were flying across the room. It's really confronting for everybody, because it hasn't been done before, and there wasn't a lot that you could watch. I mean, the whole show is about this. We talked about it in the show. It's the opening scene about, you know, who can we watch? Who's famous as a Drag King? Who's someone we can watch and go, "Okay, this is how you do this"?
But you guys didn't have that. I didn't have that. So we were all without an anchor. And it's so fucking confronting. And I think as people from Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z — there's so much that's gone unsaid. There's so much shame that we're trying to overcome, whether we're aware of it or not. So much unconscious shame that's been put on us.
And even being a Drag King — "Oh, why are you doing Drag Kings? The Kingpins did that 25 years ago. Why would you want to do it now?" And just busting all those ideas apart. Like, we've had more than one drag queen movement over the last 25 years. Oh my God. So people are really just small-minded when they think about Drag King culture and what it means to be a Drag King and the value of Kinging.
So I just needed to try and keep moving you all forward. But I've done it a few times, and I know making devised theatre is really scary. Because you never know what — you don't have a script going, "This is what it's going to be." You have to kind of go into these unknown spaces. And that's to kind of get to the radical truth of who we are. And hopefully my process is something I've developed over many years to try and get to those truths, or to that strength of character, or just the beauty of everyone. So get beyond the trauma, beyond everything, and get to the beauty and the joy by opening night.
And I did. Then you absolutely landed. Keen on the day. And we did. We got there.
Danica:
Yeah. And happy to say that we've been invited back.
Kaz:
We absolutely have. For two weeks. A whole two-week season. Yeah. Tickets. 2026. And maybe we do some touring as well. That's on the cards. So it's — yes, big future. And I think They Will Be Kings — there's a few Drag King shows out there now — but I think that They Will Be Kings is absolutely unique, because it's more than a Drag King show. It's about life and about how you can make your life more joyful. And that you can do this. You can make your life more joyful in ways that you never thought possible.
And if you love They Will Be Kings, then you goddamn should try being a Drag King. If someone's doing netball on the weekend, you could just do Drag King instead for a month. One month. Why not?
It's so wild how people aren't courageous about gender. And I'm a big Drag Race fan. I'm a big RuPaul super fan as well. And then I watched The King of Drag on Revry, which I love. So all those are the other reasons why I needed to step into the world. But it is very powerful. Absolutely. I mean, look at Drag Race. That's created the whole kind of 21st-century vocabulary and how people — yeah. So it's massive.
Danica:
It's so good. There are some people listening now who are aspiring Drag Kings who haven't yet taken that first step. What would you say to any aspiring Drag Kings who are listening?
Kaz:
Well, if you're scared of something, then you should do it. Life's too short. You can't judge something unless you've done it. So when you toss and turn over whether to — what to do — "I don't want to be a Drag King. I'm too this. I'm too that." We don't know what you're talking about until you actually do it. Full stop.
And there's nothing better than just spending some time on your favourite daggy dad song and just getting Danica to put some — and then you — there's just joy. There's nothing bad about it.
And a lot of my friends are like, "I don't want to perform. I don't want to do this on stage." It's just once. You can do it just once. You know, in a group. You don't have to become a solo performance artist or anything like that. You can do it just once. And then when you go back to Drag Kingdom after you've done it, it's just a whole — all of a sudden, kind of cross this threshold into this alignment or understanding of the potential. That's all it is. You go, "Yeah, this is great." And you know that everyone up there is getting their minds blown. By them. By themselves.
Danica:
That's right. And who they can be. Who they can be.
Kaz:
How they can walk and feel.
Danica:
Yeah. Euphoria. That affirmation.
Kaz:
I don't think I've met anyone who's done drag who's gone, "Oh, that was shit." There's just no one who does that. No one goes, "That was a waste of time. Never gonna think about that again." It's so true.
Danica:
And I love Drag Kingdom. Drag Kingdom is our biannual reunion of the Kings of Joy community. We all come back and people do their group routines again, and people do duos and solos. And the last two Drag Kingdoms have been hosted by Chase Cocks and Brad Armpit.
Kaz:
Yeah. Shorts and a t-shirt.
Danica:
It's so good. And I'm committed to providing resources for people who want to start to be a Drag King. And they're like, "I don't know where to start." So a good place to start is the name. That's one entry. Some people start with the look and the aesthetic, and that's a nice entry too. But I've got a free resource that people can download to claim your Drag King name in four simple steps. So if you go to danicalani.com/dragkingname, you'll be able to download that free resource and get yourself started in the conversation. There's lots of examples of Drag King names from the Kings of Joy community, including Brad Armpit.
Kaz:
Yeah. And it's very gentle. It's so different. Your process, to say, the process I run as a professional theatre maker or artist, because it's so different. It's really gentle. My process is about meeting an outcome. Right? So I have to push. But yours is not like that. It's just you go at your own pace. Even when you do perform, you can perform at any level you want, and then you can choose to do it again or not. It's just, yeah, it's kind of like joining the soccer club, and you all play soccer, but it doesn't matter if you're good or not. Have fun. So you can come in at any level. It's really — that's right. It's wonderful.
Danica:
Yeah. And I think the point is that it's not about creating polished performance. It's actually about energy being the currency of performance and being unleashed and self-expressed. That's the thing that we love when we watch a good Drag King performance — someone being completely, like, whoo, going for it.
Kaz:
And doing it sober. The Drag King community is really — not sober, but there's a lot of sober people in it. And lots of people to let go like that. Feel like they need to have three shots of tequila and a this and that to get into a dress and get into their profound joy. And it's a radical act to just do it sober. Put on some costume and just do it because you want to. And feeling it. Don't be afraid to feel the joy. That's a beautiful thing. Don't be afraid to feel the masculinity. It's not toxic. It's like, why not try on masculinity, but in the way that you think it should be presented?
Danica:
And so if I gave you a magic wand — either to you, Kaz, or Brad Armpit — and you could just create a thriving Drag King community and scene, what would it look like?
Kaz:
I think, like, being a Drag Race super fan — that's changed the world. So I think it should be a TV show that is franchised all over the world. I think that there should be superstars, Emmy winners, all from the same community. So there's hundreds, if not thousands, of Drag Kings performing all over the world on all the main stages of Australia, of New York — I mean, that's what's happening with drag queens. Jinkx Monsoon is just about to play Judy Garland on Broadway. Fabulous.
Name your favourite famous Drag King. It's still a hard question. But that's what I think. I mean, it's just — there's absolutely no reason why Drag Kings shouldn't be embraced in the same way as drag queens. That's what I imagine.
It's a different culture from the culture that drag queens have created. It's completely different. It's the matriarchal community moving into masculinity, not the patriarchal community moving into femininity. They're completely polar opposites. So that's really, really what the world needs right now. And it's super interesting. It should take over the world.
Danica:
Fascinating. Well, thank you so much, Kaz, for coming in.
Kaz:
Brad for Prez, man. You can't stop him.
Danica:
Unstoppable. Yeah. Thanks for coming in and being part of The Kings of Joy Show. Thank you for having me. And being such a — day after my wedding —
Kaz:
I know.
Danica:
And such a massive contribution to our Drag King culture in Sydney. Thank you so much. Putting us on the map.
Kaz:
You did that, and then I made the map a little bit bigger.
Danica:
Yeah. Broadening the map. We're doing it together.
Kaz:
Yeah. So good. Thank you. Thanks, Danica. Thanks, everyone. It's Brad Armpit, signing off.
Danica:
Kings with real stories. We go there. From debut to prove the journey we're making. This is Kings of Joy. Here's the crown you're claiming.
If This Conversation Speaks to You
If you want to experience They Will Be Kings before the season closes, there are three performances left:
Thursday 19 February, 7pm
Friday 20 February, 7pm
Saturday 21 February, 7pm
Qtopia Sydney
If you're curious about Drag Kinging and want to take a first step, King For A Day is happening on Saturday 21 February at 1pm at Qtopia - a three-hour workshop for first-timers exploring masculinity and Drag King persona in a safe, playful space.
About Danica Lani, The King Coach
Hey you 👋 I'm Danica Lani - also known as The King Coach. I've mentored 150 first-time Drag Kings since 2020, and I'm here to say: if you're feeling the pull to explore gender through performance, you're not alone - and you're not too late.
Whether you're new to this world or quietly dreaming of stepping into your masculine side on stage, there's space for you here.
✨ Ready to name your King? Download Claim Your Drag King Name in 4 Simple Steps - a free guide to choosing your Drag King name.
💫 Want to see what's possible? Explore Kings of Joy and discover the queer community bringing masculine expression to life with joy, power, and heart.
About Kaz Therese
Kaz Therese (them/they) lives on Gadigal Land and grew up on Dharug Land in Mount Druitt. They are queer, Hungarian-Australian, and the CEO and Artistic Director of WEREWOLF Productions - a new arts company dedicated to cultural transformation in extreme times.
Kaz is an award-winning artist and cultural leader with a practice grounded in performance, activism, and community building. Their nationally acclaimed works explore urgent contemporary topics including Australia's refugee and First Nations policies, gender and intersectional feminism, and young people's need for freedom. Kaz's work JUMP FIRST, ASK LATER won a Helpmann Award and an Australian Dance Award. They are a Fellow of Creative Australia's Arts Leaders program.
As a drag king, Kaz performs as Brad Armpit - a satirical hot dad and recovering alcoholic whose work interrogates entitlement, masculinity, and power with humour and heart.
The work continues. The culture builds. And Drag Kings will take over the world - one performance, one collaboration, one courageous step at a time.
The Kings of Joy Show is produced by Bambuddha Studios. Their support has made it possible to document and share these conversations with care and cultural integrity. Learn more.
